Garden Tour: A Magical Rainforest Haven Filled With Lush Planting
A temperate rainforest garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show highlighted the race to save these rare ancient woodlands
If you weren’t aware there are rainforests in the UK, it’s not surprising. Temperate rainforest – think native trees encrusted with ferns, lichen and velvety moss – once covered up to 20% of the land, but we’re now down to pockets here and there, amounting to around 1% running down the west of the country. Even these fragments, though, remind us how magical this lush landscape is, as well as how important.
“They’re amazing biodiverse habitats,” says Zoe Claymore, the award-winning designer behind The Wildlife Trusts’ British Rainforest Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year. “The mosses, lichens, ferns, incredible flora and fauna, rare species of birds, amazing carbon storage – there’s so much they can give us.”
Zoe’s garden highlights the restorative power of these habitats, but also offers inspiration to anyone wanting to create a nature-friendly haven at home.
“They’re amazing biodiverse habitats,” says Zoe Claymore, the award-winning designer behind The Wildlife Trusts’ British Rainforest Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year. “The mosses, lichens, ferns, incredible flora and fauna, rare species of birds, amazing carbon storage – there’s so much they can give us.”
Zoe’s garden highlights the restorative power of these habitats, but also offers inspiration to anyone wanting to create a nature-friendly haven at home.
Key to the lushness and year-round colour of the forests are the mosses, ferns and lichens that thrive in the humid air. These in turn support a huge range of wildlife.
“Because the air is clean and moist, and true temperate rainforests have been left alone for hundreds of years, they’ve developed intricate, incredibly biodiverse environments,” Zoe says.
In her Chelsea garden, Zoe created a 2.5m-high stone wall dripping with ferns and mosses that formed a verdant backdrop. These included Alpine wood ferns (Dryopteris wallichiana), tatting ferns (Athyrium filix-femina ‘Frizelliae’), and hard ferns (Blechnum spicant), as well as the royal fern (Osmunda regalis; seen here far right) – rare in the wild.
Mosses are what help to give the rainforests one of their key characteristics – epiphytic growing. This is where plants grow on other plants rather than the ground. “Because moss can thrive in the damp, it can grow to such a thickness that other things, such as polypodium ferns, can grow into it,” Zoe says. Varieties in her garden included hook moss (Cratoneium commutatum); willow moss (Fontinalis), and broom forkmoss (Dicranum scoparium).
“Because the air is clean and moist, and true temperate rainforests have been left alone for hundreds of years, they’ve developed intricate, incredibly biodiverse environments,” Zoe says.
In her Chelsea garden, Zoe created a 2.5m-high stone wall dripping with ferns and mosses that formed a verdant backdrop. These included Alpine wood ferns (Dryopteris wallichiana), tatting ferns (Athyrium filix-femina ‘Frizelliae’), and hard ferns (Blechnum spicant), as well as the royal fern (Osmunda regalis; seen here far right) – rare in the wild.
Mosses are what help to give the rainforests one of their key characteristics – epiphytic growing. This is where plants grow on other plants rather than the ground. “Because moss can thrive in the damp, it can grow to such a thickness that other things, such as polypodium ferns, can grow into it,” Zoe says. Varieties in her garden included hook moss (Cratoneium commutatum); willow moss (Fontinalis), and broom forkmoss (Dicranum scoparium).
Native trees – silver birch (Betula pendula), hazel (Corylus avellana), and field maple (Acer campestre) – created shade and shelter in the garden. “These are all trees I saw growing in the Dart Valley Nature Reserve, which I visited as part of the design process,” Zoe says.
A heavily leaning silver birch (seen here) reminded visitors that nature can be resilient and imperfection is beautiful. “I hope the garden allows people to feel they can be a bit freer. Your garden doesn’t have to be manicured – you’re tending it and it’s tending you, rather than imposing control over it,” she says. “As in human relationships, if you try to control it, it’s either going to wither or fight back.”
A heavily leaning silver birch (seen here) reminded visitors that nature can be resilient and imperfection is beautiful. “I hope the garden allows people to feel they can be a bit freer. Your garden doesn’t have to be manicured – you’re tending it and it’s tending you, rather than imposing control over it,” she says. “As in human relationships, if you try to control it, it’s either going to wither or fight back.”
Zoe also included lots of dead wood in the garden, woven in naturally. “It’s a key part of a healthy habitat, providing a home for a host of fungi and insects that then tidy up the rest of the garden,” she says. “There are whole communities in dead wood, so it’s really important to celebrate that.”
Winding through the centre of the garden was a timber boardwalk, modelled on those in Wildlife Trust reserves. It was designed to create a sense of journey, provide wheelchair access and, crucially, minimise soil disturbance, allowing mosses to grow underneath.
Easily find and hire a local garden designer on Houzz.
Easily find and hire a local garden designer on Houzz.
Water is obviously a key part of a rainforest and, in the heart of the garden, a stream cascaded down the back wall and snaked under the boardwalk, gathering in a pool surrounded by mossy boulders, to be enjoyed by people and wildlife alike.
Although ferns and mosses made up the bulk of the planting, reflecting the immersive greenery of the forests, Zoe added “some fun things for pollinators” – a sprinkling of pretty flowers, including foxgloves, marsh marigolds, columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris), cow parsley and bluebells. “Even though the ferns were the main thing, we wanted something colourful and gorgeous,” she says.
While Zoe’s Chelsea garden captured some of the magic of temperate rainforests and highlighted the project to save this important habitat, the aim was also to enthuse people to support the wildlife and landscape in their own area, wet or not.
“The best thing you can do is walk around your local area and see what’s thriving,” Zoe says. “Beth Chatto said ‘right plant, right place’, but let’s extend that to make the aesthetic of your garden ‘right feel, right area’.
“It’s all about inspiring people to embrace their local environments more in their designs and to work with nature and embrace imperfection and create a bit of fun,” she says. “That’s better for you and the planet – it will look nice and be less effort.”
“The best thing you can do is walk around your local area and see what’s thriving,” Zoe says. “Beth Chatto said ‘right plant, right place’, but let’s extend that to make the aesthetic of your garden ‘right feel, right area’.
“It’s all about inspiring people to embrace their local environments more in their designs and to work with nature and embrace imperfection and create a bit of fun,” she says. “That’s better for you and the planet – it will look nice and be less effort.”
Many of the ideas in the garden can be implemented in typical residential gardens up and down the country. Zoe’s advice? “Think about embracing shade; not being afraid of dead wood; using reclaimed materials where possible [all the stone and wood in this garden was reclaimed]; introducing water, and creating a sense of journey with a raised boardwalk ending in a gorgeous seating or eating area,” she says.
Several ferns can also work in less humid spots. “Try Asplenium scolopendrium (hart’s-tongue fern), which is evergreen and works in a variety of environments; Osmunda regalis, or royal fern, which likes wet feet, so it’s great to plant near a pond, and Dryopteris affinis, the scaly male fern, which is a gorgeous standard UK fern that works in a variety of shady and part-shady conditions,” Zoe says.
Several ferns can also work in less humid spots. “Try Asplenium scolopendrium (hart’s-tongue fern), which is evergreen and works in a variety of environments; Osmunda regalis, or royal fern, which likes wet feet, so it’s great to plant near a pond, and Dryopteris affinis, the scaly male fern, which is a gorgeous standard UK fern that works in a variety of shady and part-shady conditions,” Zoe says.
If the idea of a garden like this appeals, check out Zoe’s British Rainforest: How To Guide, which goes beyond the conventional plant list. “There are three planting projects – one for pots, one for a border, and one for a larger woodland project,” she says. “They include plans and plant lists designed to provide year-round interest, and top tips for how to create a garden more sustainably – and how to plant to save money as well as the planet.”
A share of the proceeds will go to support The Wildlife Trusts’ work; see Zoe’s website for more details.
A share of the proceeds will go to support The Wildlife Trusts’ work; see Zoe’s website for more details.
Restoring temperate rainforest will support wildlife, including red squirrels, otters, and birds such as pied flycatchers (pictured) and wood warblers; help to tackle climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide, and provide enchanting woodland for people to enjoy.
The Wildlife Trusts was given a seed grant from Aviva for £38m in 2023 to begin the process of strategically acquiring land next to existing temperate rainforest to link the woodlands together.
The 100-year project aims to create an extra 4,337 acres of rainforest and the team estimates this will capture and store around 222,000 tonnes of carbon by 2050, and double that amount a decade later.
“The more we learn about woodlands and the mycelial networks, [the more we realise] trees are communities, so one of the best ways to protect the woods is to link up all these disparate patches,” Zoe says. “Think about tree corridors – if we can link these places up, they’re going to be much more resilient to the effects of climate change.”
Tell us…
What do you think of Zoe’s design – and do you feel inspired for your own garden? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
The Wildlife Trusts was given a seed grant from Aviva for £38m in 2023 to begin the process of strategically acquiring land next to existing temperate rainforest to link the woodlands together.
The 100-year project aims to create an extra 4,337 acres of rainforest and the team estimates this will capture and store around 222,000 tonnes of carbon by 2050, and double that amount a decade later.
“The more we learn about woodlands and the mycelial networks, [the more we realise] trees are communities, so one of the best ways to protect the woods is to link up all these disparate patches,” Zoe says. “Think about tree corridors – if we can link these places up, they’re going to be much more resilient to the effects of climate change.”
Tell us…
What do you think of Zoe’s design – and do you feel inspired for your own garden? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
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Show RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025
Garden The Wildlife Trusts’ British Rainforest Garden
Size 48 sq m
Designer Zoe Claymore
Constructor Frogheath Landscapes
Sponsors Project Giving Back
The Wildlife Trusts
Supported by Aviva
When The Wildlife Trusts asked Zoe to create a rainforest garden, the idea immediately appealed. She’d spent her childhood playing at her grandparents’ home next to Lydford Gorge in Devon and loved the mood and aesthetic of that lush woodland. “I’ve basically created the garden I wanted to play in when I was 5 years old,” she says.
Unsurprisingly, rainforests need a lot of rain to thrive (at least 1,500mm a year, according to the Met Office) and not just a lot each year, but consistent rainfall month after month. They also need to be sheltered, so they never get too hot or cold, meaning they generally cluster in gullies, gorges and coastal inlets on the wetter, Atlantic side of the country.